Looking Through Glass
by coriswriting
Summary: Finchel Drabble:  Finn daydreams about his future with Rachel while helping Will shop for engagement rings.


"Hey, thanks for coming with me, Finn," Will smiled, giving him a pat on the back as they entered the jewelry store, "I just thought it'd be good to have another guy's opinion. I don't want to get talked into anything, you know?"

"No problem, Mr. Schue," Finn grinned, "it's totally awesome that you're going to ask Mrs. Pillsbury to marry you and everything."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Will agreed, "it's about time."

An enthusiastic saleswoman nearly met them at the door.

"What can I help you two gentleman with today?" she asked in a bubbly tone.

"We'd like to see the engagement rings," said Will proudly.

"Oh!" replied the saleswoman in a tone of surprise, "well, which one of you should I size?"

Finn and Will looked at each other, confused.

"No," laughed Will, suddenly realizing what she meant, "I'm proposing to my girlfriend. We'd like to see _women's_ engagement rings."

"Of course," chuckled the saleswoman, embarassed, "right over here, sirs."

She led Finn and Will over to a long glass case filled with rings with diamonds of all shapes and sizes. This was going to be more complicated than they thought. Will asked the saleswoman a question that Finn didn't hear as he began to daydream.

Staring at the glittering gems through the glass, he began to think about what it would be like if he ever got to ask Rachel Berry to marry him.

Not now, but when she finished school, or after she made it big on Broadway. Or whenever he made something of himself, something he could be proud of, that _she_ could be proud of. After college, or the army, or whatever. _Crap, _he thought to himself as he remembered he was dreading telling her about the recruiter. But whatever it took to do something, to _be_ something that mattered, he would do it. He would show her that all of her believing in him was not for nothing. He would _be_ somebody, and then he'd buy her a ring.

He wasn't sure how he'd do it. Maybe he'd bring her back to McKinley, and set up a picnic in the auditorium where they'd kissed for the first time. Maybe he'd get down on one knee in the choir room, where their voices had made such beautiful music together. Or he'd hide the ring in her old locker, right in the spot where they'd shared so many special moments and meaningful conversations. He could take her to their little place in the school library, where they'd kissed on the floor against the bookshelves and told each other that their love was worth it.

Or he'd do it in New York, telling her to meet him at the Bow Bridge, where his heart had nearly lept out of his chest at the sight of her beautiful face coming toward him. He could put the ring in her dessert at Sardi's, where he'd taken her on their dream date. Maybe he'd propose in that very spot on the street in Greenwich Village where she had once walked away from him, still trying to resist the inevitability of their union. _"Take a chance on me,"_ he'd whisper, as he opened the small box, and this time she'd stay. Or he'd take her back to that stage where they'd shared that earth-shattering kiss at Nationals, when neither of them could deny their love another moment.

Or, there was always the simple setting of the fireside at his mother and Burt's house, where he could still feel the warmth of her tender smile as she rested peacefully on his chest, basking in the glow of their love.

There were so many places to choose from, so many epic moments. _That meant something, didn't it?_ In his dreams, it didn't matter where it was that he chose to ask her to be his wife, the outcome was always the same. She'd jump into his arms, throw her arms around his neck, and kiss him until he couldn't see straight. She'd wrap her body around his and whisper, "_Yes,"_ as tears formed in her eyes. His heart would overflow with joy as he heard the best reply he'd every heard in his life.

He thought about their wedding day, about Rachel practically floating down the aisle toward him in white, looking amazing and gorgeous and being just, well, _his. _He thought about the things he's say, how he'd tell her they were tethered, how she'd helped him find his heart, how his world never had so many possibilities before he met her. How she'd changed him for good. How he'd never, ever let her go. He thought about how he'd kiss her that day, like he never had before. _Like a husband_. He'd carry her over that threshold and they'd just let their love consume them.

He thought about what it'd be like to wake up next to her every morning, her small form nestled into his large one. To kiss her everyday before they left for work, and knowing he'd get to come home to her each night. He thought about painting nurseries and false alarm labor pains and holding their child in his arms for the first time. He was thinking about baby names when Will's voice snapped him back to the present.

"What do you think of this one, Finn?" Will asked, holding up a diamond ring with a simple gold band.

"It's great, Mr. Schue," Finn assured him, "I can't believe how many there are to pick from."

Finn looked back down at the jewelry case. He felt like his future was behind glass as well; so many beautiful things that he couldn't yet touch. These moments he dreamed of with Rachel were like these precious jewels, staring back at him through an invisible wall of time, distance, changes, choices. It seemed so daunting. But here was Mr. Schue doing it. Against all odds, he and Ms. Pillsbury were getting their dream, shining like that ring between his fingers. Finn knew in his heart that one day, he too would hold his dream in the palm of his hand. He'd hold it out to Rachel. He'd slip it around her finger. And there would be no more wishing and wondering and staring through glass. Only the two of them, and the promise of their life together, sparkling like a diamond.


End file.
